‘The Bachelorette’ Episode 6 Recap: A Bittersweet End

Part 2, rose lovers! When last we left our Bachelorette, she was “thinking about some stuff” in the middle of the Norweigan wilderness, while producers had Kenny and Lee penned together in the Holding Area. The former has just learned that the latter accused him of being “violent,” and Kenny is not happy. “Oh my God, snake,” he says. “Look, we ain’t got to never talk, but here’s what I’ve got to say to you: It must feel terrible that you have to lie so terribly. You told this woman that I pulled you out of a van?”

Lee, that the manipulative asshat that he is, completely denies making the van claim. “You’re calling her a liar now?” marvels Kenny. “Let me explain something to you: If I had ever been physical with you, you would bear the scars.”

Photos: ABC

“And that’s all I’ve got to say to you,” declares Kenny firmly. But Lee goads him again with a sarcastic, “Jesus loves you,” and that sets the wrestler off on another expletive-filled tirade.

Finally, Rachel returns to put all of us out of our misery. “Today has been really informative,” she begins. “What’s been very apparent today is that you guys have two completely different stories about things that have gone down. And it just comes down to who I believe and who I trust at this point.”

To all of Bachelor Nation’s relief, that person is… wait, no one? Rachel tells Lee she doesn’t trust him and is sending him home post haste, but the Bachelorette isn’t ready to make a call on Kenny. “I’d like to spend more time with you tonight to figure that out,” she explains.

Naturally, Lee can’t leave without getting in one final jab. “That’s okay, sweetheart,” he purrs. “I just want you to know, when he came back over here, he threatened me…” Fortunately, Rachel shuts things down before they can escalate further. “I hope you find what you’re looking for,” she tells Lee. “I’m glad you hope the same for me.”

The Bachelorette offers Lee a quick hug, and then heads for the helicopter with Kenny. And Kenny, secure in his victory, decides to put the whole mess behind him and focus on making things right with Rachel.

Oh, wait, actually the opposite of that happened.

Yes, Kenny GOES BACK TO YELL AT LEE SOME MORE, leaving Rachel waiting in the helicopter!

“I am so annoyed by this,” she huffs. As you should be, girl. The Bachelorette is still feeling annoyed later that night, when Kenny arrives at her hotel room for part 2 of their date. “I need to figure out if Kenny is actually someone I can see as my husband.”

As soon as Kenny arrives, Rachel gets right to it, asking him what in the hell was thinking leaving her alone in the helicopter to go chew out Lee yet again. “I’m verbal,” he explains. “I don’t bottle things up. You let it out, in the moment, and then you forget about it.” (Okay, Kenny, but hadn’t you already “let it out” on Lee multiple times during the date?)

The wrestler goes on to tell Rachel that he has “a really long fuse” and that he’s a super supportive boyfriend, “a romantic,” and so on. I really want to like Kenny, but the guy has just gotten in his own way too many times for it to be a fluke. Still, Rachel seems happy with what Kenny has to say. “One thing I don’t question is that you’re here for me,” she says. “I do like you, and still want to see where this can go.” And I think you know what happens next.

Kenny’s very happy to remain in the game, but there’s still someone at home that he misses very much.

Awwww, I can’t help but feel bad for the guy when he breaks down in tears while FaceTiming with his daughter. And her “Oh, daddy, don’t cry!” was like a punch in the gut. Hang in there, adorable family.

Time for a weirdly out-of-place rose ceremony! Robot roll call: Dean, Eric, Peter, Alex, Adam, and Matt (wait, who?) join Will, Kenny and Bryan in the Circle of Safety. Which means we’re saying goodbye to Anthony and, even more surprisingly, Josiah. Josiah, the guy who announced right before the ceremony, “If she doesn’t give me a rose, there is something wrong with her brain.” It is rather surprising, especially since she kept guys like Matt, who might not even be on this show, and Adam. But then again, Team Bachelorette probably asked Rachel to keep Adam one more week so they can keep doing delightfully stupid things like this:

Eric, who in Monday’s episode wondered if Rachel wasn’t interested in dating “brothers,” notes that “two more black guys were sent home.” Indeed, of the nine guys left, only three are black — and that’s totally fine, if it’s what Rachel wants.

From Oslo, we travel-by-map to Denmark. The first date goes to Eric, who’s excited to have some “momentum” with Rachel. Am I the only one who hasn’t really seen a lot of chemistry between these two up until now? Though they are cute when they dance.

As they cruise through the canals on a boat tour, Rachel and Eric chit-chat about topics both little (what they do for fun) and big (Rachel wants four kids, to which Eric replies, “Oh, wow!”). Maybe it’s the champagne, but I’ll admit these two really do seem to be “vibing” (Eric’s term) today.

Of course, it’s hard not to feel all warm and fuzzy in a city where strangers welcome you with open arms… and no pants.

That night, Rachel takes Eric to Tivoli, the “second most-visited amusement park in the world,” as the Bachelorette dutifully informs us. “Eric and I are like two big kids,” she says happily. “It’s like childhood girlfriend and boyfriend having a good time.” Things get more serious at dinner, when Eric explains to Rachel that growing up his mom never showed him any love — and that made it hard for him to have a functional relationship as an adult. Until now, of course. “I’m falling for you,” Eric says. “I know it’s right.” And she LOVES it.

Congrats, Eric! You win the date rose, and the chance to avoid the next group outing, which involves hard labor.

Look at Alex making it look easy! (Bryan, on the other hand, can barely stay upright.) If you haven’t guessed, today’s date has a Viking theme, complete with costumes!

These two gentlemen have been tasked with whipping Kenny, Bryan, Alex, Dean, Matt, Peter, and Adam into tip-top Viking shape. Tom and Morton direct the guys to compete in a variety of Viking games, like “steal the greased stick from the woman you want to marry” and “push each other out of the circle with your butt.”

One by one, the guys get knocked out of the running, until it’s down to Kenny and Adam.

To no one’s surprise, Kenny succeeds in forcing Adam out of the ring — but not without spilling some of his rival’s blood first.

Kenny’s eyebrow is split open, too (hence the shots of him with a bloody face in the previews, which Team Bachelorette wanted us to believe were the result of a knock-down drag-out fight with Lee).

Even though he got the W (and a nifty trophy to go with it), Kenny’s feeling pretty insecure. “There are other guys that are way further along in their emotional relationship than I am,” he laments. “So there’s a sense of urgency.” But he’s gonna have to get behind Bryan, who pulls Rachel aside for another of his weirdly intense talk-and-stare sessions. Bryan’s not worried that he and Rachel live in two different states — he just keeps saying he’s “ready.” To… move, maybe? Unclear. Then Rachel lowers her voice to a whisper and asks the most serious question of the night:

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Will — who has the final one-on-one date of the week — is talking to Eric about his past dating life. “I’ll be straight up with it — I typically date white girls,” admits Will with a grin. “It’s not that I don’t date black girls, I have. It’s just that growing up where I grew up, especially in high school, there weren’t a lot of black girls in my high school. And in college there were even fewer.” There’s nothing particularly profound about this conversation, but the fact that it’s happening is definitely notable — especially since it’s happening on a show that has failed to embrace diversity for years. Hooray for baby steps!

The group date is chugging along nicely, and Rachel seems to be enjoying her time with all the guys — though it’s clear, as she says, that some relationships “are just moving at a faster pace, and are just stronger.” Which is probably why when Rachel sits down with Matt (who?), the first thing she does is ask about another guy: Kenny.

It seems the wrestler is feeling pretty blue, missing his daughter and wondering if being away from her for so long is really going to be worth it. “I’m not necessarily 100 percent comfortable with where we at,” Kenny tells Rachel. “I just don’t necessarily know if our relationship has grown in the ways I would have liked it to grow.” In other words, hometown dates are just a few weeks away, and Kenny’s worried about bringing Rachel home to meet Mackenzie, because he doesn’t want his daughter to get attached — and then get hurt.

Rachel, being a decent human being, knows how important it is not to waste Kenny’s time, and so in the interest of “keeping it absolutely 100,” she gently cuts Kenny loose. And honestly, it seems like he’s relieved to go, because he knows he was never going to be Rachel’s last man standing. But Kenny has no hard feelings. “This is a bittersweet end,” he says. “If Mackenzie grew up to be like Rachel, then I know that I did my job.” Look at the love on Kenny’s face as he talks to his daughter:

The next day, Rachel meets Will on the shores of Helsingør, Denmark, where she hopes to help Will break out of his shell. They hop a ferry to Sweden, where they play Kubb with some fellow tourists, sample the local cuisine, and chat with a friendly older couple that producers recruited for the occasion. This delightful twosome met on the dance floor, and they’ve been married for 35 years.

Just too cute. “See, that’s what I want,” Rachel sighs. “35 years.” But it’s unlikely she’s going to spend even 3 to 5 more days with Will, because there’s “something missing between us.” For one thing, the Bachelorette is extremely dismayed that Will hasn’t kissed her yet. She’s given him so many opportunities, too.

Stop talking about the view and kiss her already, you fool! “We are standing on top of a castle looking out over the sea,” laments Rachel, “and there’s still nothing. I don’t know what’s holding Will back.”

OK, buddy, dinner is your last chance. You better plant one on the Bachelorette or you’ll be headed back to the States alone on the Reject Plane. The conversation is mildly intense: Will talks about mostly dating white girls because “that’s the pool that I was kind of working with,” and Rachel notes that she grew up in a predominantly white area too, but she still mostly dated black guys. Is she annoyed at Will’s admission? Hard to say. But I don’t think it’s helping his case.

Also not helping? The fact that Will says he’s “always been a very passionate person” in his past relationships, and very focused on “physical intimacy.” As you might imagine, this does not make Rachel feel great. “That was disappointing,” she says. “I haven’t gotten any of that from Will today.” And so…

Like Rachel’s break-up with Kenny, her goodbye to Will was on remarkably good terms. “I think you’re right. I think that I focused maybe too much on building a friendship, and not realizing that I needed to work more on the relationship,” says Will. “And that’s on me.”

Goodbye, Will! You, too, should definitely stay away from Paradise.

Holy crap, rose lovers — we’re getting two rose ceremonies in one episode? It’s like Christmas in June! For Rachel, it’s a much less festive occasion, and she arrives at the ceremony looking and feeling “solemn,” as Harrison says. She’s so sad, in fact, that she can’t get through her pre-ceremony pep talk without getting tearing up — and because she doesn’t want the men to see her cry, Rachel excuses herself and abruptly walks out. Hey buddy, get out of the shot!

Having collected herself, Rachel returns and gives out the four roses up for grabs: Bryan, Matt (seriously?), Dean, and Adam(along with date-rose winners Eric and Peter) will continue on this “journey” to find “love.” Unfortunately that means we have to say goodbye to the big hunk of Russian-speaking man-meat known as Alex. He handles it with a good-natured smile, the way he seems to handle most things.

You know what, Alex? You should go to Paradise. I feel like you and Jorge would get along.

And that’s a wrap on the EPIC, TWO-NIGHT BACHELORETTE EVENT, rose lovers. Let me know what you think: Were you surprised Kenny went home? Who will you miss more — Alex, Kenny, or Josiah? And for the love of God, who is Matt? Post your thoughts now! And be sure to check out Chris Harrison’s behind-the-scenes blog right here.